WOKING Sixth Form College would not close under the Campus Woking proposals said the man who conceived them — but building the central facility on the Brewery Road car park cannot be ruled out.

Cllr Andrew Crisp’s proposals to pilot a university-style system of secondary education in Woking have met with a broad response — opposed strongly by several governors but welcomed warmly by some headteachers.

The county council’s executive committee approved draft proposals for consultation at a meeting on December 5. The initial opportunity for feedback will last until April.

Under the arrangement, pupils would attend various secondary schools that specialise in particular interests with a central campus facility co-ordinating the system.

The site of this new building was the subject of a written question asked by Horsell councillor John Doran at the meeting earlier this month.

He asked: “In the Woking News and Mail there was a letter from former Conservative councillor David Bittleston saying: ‘No doubt Mr Crisp has some grand plan to raise money by closing Woking College, thus realising the land for low-cost, high density housing and then building the new secondary school hub on Brewery Road car park. Could the executive confirm there are no such plans?”

In reply, Cllr Crisp wrote: “The county council does not own the land and consequently has no such plans.”

He told the News and Mail: “The Learning and Skills Council now funds sixth form education and the county council does not have the authority to close the college.

“As for the headquarters building, we simply don’t know yet how big the building will need to be and there have been no decisions. We will have to see what the results of the consultation are.”